Technical Field
The present invention relates to a paper transfer device according to which, when a paper that is selectively fed from first or second paper feeder is jammed during a transfer of the paper to downstream of a paper transfer direction, the jammed paper can be removed easily to an outside of its housing by a simple operation.
Background Arts
Generally, a paper transfer device for transferring papers is adopted in an image forming apparatus, such as a printing apparatus for printing images and characters on papers and a copy machine for copying images and characters on papers.
Such an image forming apparatus is configured to include at least a paper feeder for feeding papers, an image forming unit for forming images on the papers, a paper ejector for ejecting the papers on which images have been printed, and a controller for controlling these components integrally, in its housing.
In the image forming apparatus, a paper jamming may occur due to some reason while transferring a paper from the paper feeder to the image forming unit. A Patent Document 1 (Japanese patent application publication No. 2013-199350) discloses a sheet transfer device (corresponding to a paper transfer device) in which a jammed paper can be removed easily to an outside of its housing.
The sheet transfer device disclosed in the Patent Document 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. 18.
As shown in FIG. 18, in the prior-art sheet transfer device 100 disclosed in the Patent Document 1, a first paper feed tray 101 on which plural papers P are stacked and a second paper feed tray 102 on which plural papers P are stacked are provided at a lower portion of the sheet transfer device 100 so as to be divided as an upper shelf and a lower shelf.
An upper-most paper P among the papers P stacked on the first paper feed tray 101 or an upper-most paper P among the papers P stacked on the second paper feed tray 102 is selectively fed forward by paper feed rollers 103 and 104 that is provided so as to be associated with the first paper feed tray 101 and the second paper feed tray 102, respectively.
A first guide member 105 whose left side face is formed as a first curved portion 105a having a convexly curved shape is provided fixedly above the first paper feed tray 101.
A second guide member 106 is provided rotatably about a first axis 107 provided on its lower end side so as to interpose a first transfer path HR1 between the first guide member 105 and the second guide member 106. Cylindrical portions 108 provided on an upper end side of the second guide member 106 can be contacted-with and separated-from concave portions 105b formed at an upper portion of the first guide member 105 so as to be deviated in a sheet width direction.
A second curved portion 106a having a concavely curved shape is formed an inner side of the second guide member 106 so as to face to the first curved portion 105a that has a convexly curved shape and formed on the first guide member 105. A third curved portion 106b having a convexly curved shape is formed on an outer side that is an opposite side to the second curved portion 106a having a concavely curved shape.
A third guide member 109 is provided rotatably about a second axis 110 provided on its lower end side so as to interpose a second transfer path HR2 between the second guide member 106 and the third guide member 109. Upper end portions 109a of the third guide member 109 that are deviated in the sheet width direction can be contacted-with and separated-from the cylindrical portions 108 provided on an upper end side of the second guide member 106.
A fourth curved portion 109b having a concavely curved shape is formed an inner side of the third guide member 109 so as to face to the third curved portion 106b that has a convexly curved shape and formed on the second guide member 106.
As explained above, behaviors in the case where the guide members 105, 106 and 109 for guiding transfers of the papers P are provided so as to associate with the paper feed tray 101 or 102 will be explained hereinafter.
A paper P fed by the paper feed roller 103 from the first paper feed tray 101 provided as an upper shelf is directed upward through the first transfer path HR1 formed between the first curved portion 105a of the first guide member 105 and the second curved portion 106a of the second guide member 106, and then fed to a record unit (not shown) via a converging portion 111 provided above the first guide member 105.
On the other hand, a paper P fed by the paper feed roller 104 from the second paper feed tray 102 provided as a lower shelf is directed upward through the second transfer path HR2 formed between the third curved portion 106b of the second guide member 106 and the fourth curved portion 109b of the third guide member 109, and then fed to the record unit via the converging portion 111.
According to the above configuration, when the second guide member 106 and the third guide member 109 that are rotatable are closed, positions of their upper ends are aligned by the cylindrical portions 108 in the sheet width direction. Therefore, a guide width between the first guide member 105 and the second guide member 106 and a guide width between the second guide member 106 and the third guide member 109 are kept constant.